Robots for diverse purposes are becoming increasingly important. They are used in situations requiring recurrent operation processes whenever it is important how accurately the work is performed or when quality specifications are set. Modern electronic technology has the advantage that rapid and reliable programming of even the most complicated operating processes can be achieved. This technology generally uses two methods. These methods, which in the language of the art are known as "off-line" or "teach-in", permit programming or control of the robot to be performed remotely in terms of both space and time. In known robots, the "teach-in" method is utilized; in this method the robot itself becomes the programmer. This represents a loss in operating time, as pre-programming cannot be performed independently of the robot. A further significant disadvantage of known robots is that changes in the angle of a tool mounting results in changes to the spatial positions, which must then be reinstated, i.e. a program correction has to take place and this in turn is time-consuming.
It would thus be a desirable characteristic of a robot if the spatial position of the holder, or of a tool or an operating device held by the holder, is not lost when the holder is turned or inclined. Moreover, it is desirable to enable programming by the "off-line" method.